Apparatus for producing crepe rubber spring-heeled shoe bottoms



Nov. 1', 1932. B. 'F. HARTWELL mzwzfar:

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APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING CREFE RUB BER SPRING HEELED SHOE BOTTOMS FiledJan; 29, 1929 i n? (a l I l 1: a

rigwZZ Patented Nov. 1, 1932 UNIT STTES f rear-is .Fte

ENJAMIN r. H'AR'IWELL, or- WINCHESTER, MASSACHUSETTS ArPARA'rus ronrnoncorns onnrn RUBBER SPRING- nsulin]; SHOE BorToMs Application filedwas 29,1929; serial no. 335, 51.

- of a solvent, such as'a benzol solutiomwhich v gelatinizes the faces,the members ,bein'gfthen united by superimposing one .of'said faces onthe other, and vexertlng pressure 'on'the members to cause an.intimateunlon of the adhesive faces. v The-chief object of the inventionis toenable spring-heeled shoe bottoms, characterized as above; stated,to; be produced more rapidly and accurately than iby the methodsheretofore practiced.

J Other objects will hereinafter appear.

The invention consists in the improved apparatus for. producingspring-heeled creperubber shoe bottoms hereinafter described andclaimed.

Of the accompanying drawing formingra part of this specification,- if gI Figure 1 is a top plan view, showingan apparatus embodying theinvention, a breasting machine being indicated by dotted lines, Figure 2is a side viewof the same. I Figure Sis a ure'l. Q

Figure 4; isan. end view,looking, toward the delivering end. I i vFigure 5 showsseparately and in perspective, the sole" andheel membersofa spring heeled shoe bottom. y

Figure 6 is a longitudinaljsection of the incomplete shoe bottomproduced by-the apsection on line of Fig- Figure. 7 is a longitudinalsection of the bottom as completed bvthe breasting machine indicated byFigures 1 and 2.

The same referencecharacters indicate the same parts in allof thefigures.

' In, the drawing, 12 designates ,an endless conveyor which is a beltmounted on a driving drum 13, driven by a motor 1 1, and on aloose drum15. said drums being journaled in bearings on fixed standards 16. Aspeed reducer fassociated with the motor, is indicated at 17 (Figures 1and' t), the organization being such that thefspeed of the driving meansis regulable so that the conveyor may be driven at a suitably slowrateof speed, in the directionindicated by the arrow in Figure 1 to enableoperators to manipulate the work as hereinafter described, while it isbeing carried by the conveyor. The said regulable driving mea'ns alsoenables the conveyor belt to be drivenat different, speeds according tothe hygromet-ric condition of the atmosphere, for a purpose more fullyexplainedhereinartery I" The upper" stretch ofthe conveyor issubstantially horizontal, its top surface facing upwardly, and includinga receiving portion,

,designatedby a, whereupon crepe-rubber shoe bottom members 21 and 23,having gelatinized surfaces may be separately and loosely deposited, adelivering end portion, designated by b, and an intermediate endportion, designatedfb'y c,,whereon said members may be assembled tounite the gelatinized surfaces thereof preparatoryto'the transportationof i the assembled membersto the delivering portion} 3 The. top surfaceof. the upper stretch is unobstructed from end to end to permit saidseparately deposited and assembled members,

which I call the work, to be transported from endto end of the conveyorwhile resting loosely thereon, and to be manipulated at any pointbetween the ends of the conveying stretch. I y

' Longitudinaledges of the receiving portion a and theintermediateportion- 0, are unobstructed to provide,.beside saidportions, stations for operators positioned to separately deposit themembers on the receiving portion, and to assemble the members on theintermediate portion.

g beside an operators station 1, at one edge of the receivmg portion a,is a Located solvent-applying mechanism, designated as a whole by 18,and including, in this instance, a vtrough containing the solvent19, androlls 20 and 21, the roll 20 being rotated in the troughby any suitablemeans. The rolls are arranged to permit the heel end of a sole 21 to andpreferably diagonally opposite the mechanism 18, is anothersolvent-applying mechanism, designated as a whole by 24, and inclnd ing,in this instance, a tank 25,'containing the solvent, and rolls 27 and 28, through" the nip of which a second operator at the station 2 may passthe heel 23, andcause the heel seatengaging face of the heel'to receivea coating 29 of solvent covering said face, the roll 27 being driven byany suitable means. Each of the solventapplying mechanismsmay beotherwise organizedflf desired.

V The operator at station 2 deposits the heel on the receiving portion abeside. a sole. de-

posited by the first operator and" with the adhesive face uppermost andexposed.

The progressive movement of the conveyor is continuous, and causes anaccumulation of soles and heels thus deposited, in "rows locate side byside, as shown in Figure 1, p i

The apparatus includes means for applying a localized-air blast to theexposed adhesive faces of the soles and heels, whilethey are progressingfrom the. station 2,;to evaporate the excess solvent and render saidfaces tacky and cause the quick adhesion to. each other. Saldl means,ashere shown, includes a motordriven blower, whose casing is designatedby 30, and a flue 31, extending from the blower to a point over theconveyor, and provided with a distributing nozzle adapted to dischargeair downwardly upon the conveyor and its load, at a location between theportions it and 0. t l

An assembling operators station. 3' is provided at one edge of'theintermediate. portion 0 between. the delivering end thereof and thenozzle 32, Where a third operator'm'ay act,by picking up and invertingtheheels, and depositing thetacky faces thereof on the tacky faces ofthe heel seats, so that the soles and heels are assembled, incompleteshoe. bottoms in the condition shown by Figure 6, being provided. Theincomplete bottoms are moved in a single row by the conveyor, from thestation 3, toward the delivering portion 6.

The apparatus may be adapted for use in applying trade labels tothe solemembers of the incomplete bottoms, said labels being usually disks 3 ofsoft vulcanized rubber, having indicia on their outer sides.

' To permit this operation, I provide an operators station 4,. ato'needge of the inter.- mediate portion 0, where a fourth operator mayact, by applying any'su'ita-ble cement to the inner sides of the labelsand depositing the labels on the shank portions of the sole members ofthe incomplete bottoms.

When the apparatus is adapted for the last mentioned use, it comprisesmeans for applying a localized air blast to the labels and to thesurrounding portions of the soles, to dry any cement that may be exposedon said surrounding portions. Said means may include a flue 35,connected with the blower casing, and havinga d istributing nozzle 86,arranged to direct air downwardly on the label-carrying portions of thesole members, said nozzle being between the station 4 and the deliveringportion 6-.

The heel member of each incomplete bottom prepared as above described,hasia' beveled' breast face 37, overhanging a portion of the sole, asshown by Figure 6.

Each bottom maybe completed bya subsequent operation-performed by abreasting machine adapted to conform a portion of the sole to the breastface 37, as shown by Figare-7, and at the same time, press thecontacting adhesive'faces of the sole and' heel firmly together. Thebreasting machine,-indicated by dotted line's'in Figures land 2, anddesignated as a whole by 38,'is disclosed by my Patent No. 1,738,583,dated December 12, 1929.. Said machine. may be-located in suchproximityito the delivering end of the conveyor, that the operator maytransfer in complete bottomsfrom the conveyor'toi the breasti'ng machinefor treatment by the latter. 7

Amongthe advantages of the paratus, are the following I 1' I Eachof themanual operations is performed by asingle operator, who doesnothde'scribed ap ing else, and becomes proficient in the. performan'ce'of'the one operation, so that rapidity and accuracy of production byteam work are-ensured.

The air-blast applying means causes quick and automatic dryingof theparts actedon thereby. I The progressively moving conveyor. may beadapted to accumulate, support, and ad- Vance a' considerable number ofseparated soles and heels, and any desired number of incomplete bottoms,and deliver the latter to the operat'or of the breasting machine whichcompletes. the bottoms. V

Itwill beseen that each incomplete bot.- tom in the condition shown byFigure 6, may be completed as shown by Figure. 7, by a single operationinvolved by the. presentation of the incompletebottoms, one at a time:to the breasting machine, by a final operator located at the stationdesignated by 5, in Figure. 1, the operator being in position totransfer the incomplete bott'oms'from the deliveiz ing end of theconveyor to the breasting machine.

The completing operation. may be: performed as fast as the incompletebottoms reach the delivering end of the conveyor.

The belt portion 0 hereinbefore called the intermediate portion, is infact, an assembling portion, and is so called in the appended claim.

The above-mentioned regulable means is adapted to drive the pulley 13 atdifferent speeds and progressively move the belt 12 at different speeds,according to the hygrometric condition of the surrounding air, andthereby cause a relatively slow speed and a relatively long exposure ofthe gelatinized surfaces to the air blast which renders said surfacestacky, when the humidity of the air is relatively high, and a fasterspeed and a longer exposure of said surfaces to the air blast when thehumidity is relatively low. The apparatus is therefore variable tocompensate for all changes of the humidity of the surrounding air, andensure suitable tackiness of the gelatinized surfaces under allhygrometric conditions.

I claim:

Apparatus for use in preparing crepe rubber spring-heeled shoe bottomscomposed of separately formed soles and heels said apparatus comprisingan endless conveyor belt, pulleys supporting said belt and providing itwith a substantially horizontal upwardly facing upper stretch which iselongated to provide a receiving portion whereon the soles and heels maybe separately deposited, an assembling portion whereon the soles andheels may be assembled, and a delivering portion, the width of the beltbeing such that soles and heels treated with a solvent to gelatinizesurfaces thereof, may be separately deposited on the receiving portion,with their gelatinized surfaces exposed, means for directing an airblast against the upper stretch at a location between the receiving andassembling portions, to evaporate excess solvent and condition thegelatinized surfaces for quick adhesion to each other on the assemblingportion, and regulable means for driving one of said pulleys toprogressively move the belt at different speeds, according to thehygrometric condition of the surrounding air, and thereby cause arelatively slow speed and a relatively long exposure of the gelatinizedsurfaces to the air blast when the humidity of the air is relativelyhigh, and a faster speed and a shorter exposure of said surfaces to theair blast when the humidity of the air is relatively low, the topsurface of the upper stretch being unobstructed to permit manipulationof the work thereon, longitudinal edges of the receiving and assemblingportions being unobstructed, to provide stations at opposite sides ofthe receiving portion for operators positioned to separately deposit thesoles and heels on said portion, and a station for an assemblingoperator positioned to assemble said soles and heels on the assemblingportion.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature.

BENJAMIN F. HARTWELL.

